About Butches Q & A

[CherylNYC]

Originally Posted by JDeere

I always thought they were one in the same, nowadays there are way too many new labels, etc for me to even keep up with.

I feel odd doing this in the Butch Zone, but here I go-

For a person who identifies as Femme, it's often a noun. A Femme, not (adjective) feminine, femmish, girly etc. Femme is a specific, often complicated, identity. It may not even involve wearing lipstick. I don't think anyone ever adopted 'lipstick lesbian' as a core identity the way we do when we call ourselves 'Femme'. There is also the curious fact that, as Gemme pointed out, some femme women who partner with butch women don't consider themselves lesbians, which means the term 'lipstick lesbian' isn't relevant to them. Also, 'lipstick lesbian' is really dated, and no longer used very often.